Mar 10, 2020
GCA names LOUIE Award finalists

The Greeting Card Association (GCA) announced the finalists for the LOUIE Awards, the United States greeting card industry’s only awards competition that recognizes the outstanding art, editorial and design of greeting cards and invitations. View the list of finalists and their cards at the official 2020 LOUIE Awards homepage.

2020 LOUIE Awards Finalists

Alpine Creative
American Greetings Corporation
Avanti Press
Backyard Paper Co.
Biely & Shoaf Co.
Bella Figura
Calypso Cards
CharmCat Creative
Chez Gagné
Coral & Blue Paper Co.
Dandelion Stationery
DaySpring
Dear Bea Design Works
Designer Greetings
Elūm Designs
Fine Moments
Gift Card Impressions An InComm Company
Ginger P. Designs
Good Juju Ink
Good Paper
Great Arrow Graphics
Hallmark Cards
Hello Holy Days!
Inklings Paperie
Karen Adams Designs
KB Paperie
Little Goat Paper Co.
Little Posy Print Company dist. by Notes & Queries, Inc.
Loudhouse Creative
Lovepop
Mozaic Paper
Ohh Deer
Paper Epiphanies
Paper Salad
Patent Press Greeting Cards
Persnickety Invitation Studio
Quilling Card
Recycled Paper Greetings
Red Oak Press
Roger la Borde
Rosanna Rossi
Sagebrushed
Santoro
Second Story Cards
Seedlings
SoundSentiments
The Card Bureau
the chatty press
The Pen + Piper
Think of Me
Up With Paper
UWP Luxe
Waste Not Paper
Wild Ink Press
WOW Paper Art

“It was an absolute pleasure and privilege to be a judge for this year’s 2020 LOUIE Awards, and I’m looking forward to gathering with industry colleagues on May 1 to celebrate the best and brightest cards of the year,” said Susan January, judge for LOUIE Awards and vice president, product management at Leanin’ Tree. “The LOUIES are a wonderful opportunity to highlight the outstanding creativity and craftsmanship in our industry. The celebration in San Francisco this May will perfectly reflect the core values of our industry and our product category. It’s a fun and friendly celebration of industry peers and colleagues who enthusiastically recognize each other’s product innovations, execution and creativity.”

LOUIE History and Judging Criteria

This will be the first time that the LOUIEs Celebration will be held outside of New York. The GCA launched the International Greeting Card Awards – known as the “LOUIEs” in honor of Louis Prang, the “Father of the American Christmas Card” – in 1988. The LOUIE Awards celebrate the art, editorial and design of greeting cards, invitations and announcements and reinforce the relevance of sending and receiving cards and invitations.

All LOUIE Award entries were marketed and sold in the U.S. in 2019. Any identifying information about the submitting company was withdrawn from each entry. A panel of 19 judges, comprised of executives and experts from throughout the industry, reviewed over 600 entries submitted by more than 142 companies in over 50 categories. And a Blue-Ribbon Panel of five judges selected two Cards of the Year and a Judge’s Award for Excellence from among all categories.

Judging Criteria

In their evaluation of all entries, judges used five criteria:

Originality: Does the card take a unique approach to design, concept or execution?
Impact: Does the card have emotional impact?
Design Excellence: Is the overall look of this card visually appealing? Did the designer make good choices in typography and artwork arrangement?
Sendability: Is the card likely to be bought and sent for the occasion or purpose specified by the category? Is its format and design functional?
Value: Is this card priced appropriately based on the overall quality of the product?

LOUIE Awards Celebration

Winners will be announced at the 31^st Annual LOUIE Awards Celebration on Friday, May 1 at the Fort Mason Festival Pavilion in San Francisco, California. Finalists and winners will be on display in the LOUIEs pavilion at Noted – The Greeting Card Expo, from May 1-3, 2020.